Tipsheet

Word of the Day: Snake

I just heard Rush talking about this quite interesting Politico piece ...

Elizabeth Edwards was asked about gay rights on CNN last night, and gave some background to Bob Shrum's claim that John Edwards felt uncomfortable with gays.

"I believe that Bob Shrum brought up the issues of gays and lesbians, and John said, you know, I come from a small southern town, Baptist, you know. ... Honestly, he said, honestly an abstract issue for me because he said, you know, I don't really know, as far as I know, know any gay people. ... I said, well, actually you do.

"I referred to a friend of mine from English graduate school and how we had been out -- John and I had been out for the evening. I saw this old friend from English graduate school when we were still in law school, and I went over and spoke to him, and I knew that he was gay, and I said, you know, I'm engaged. And there's the fellow over there I'm engaged to. And he said, oh, he's awfully cute. I might snake him if he wasn't with you. And I told John that.

"And this is where he used the word 'uncomfortable.' He said, that made me feel uncomfortable. So Bob correctly remembers the word 'uncomfortable' but incorrectly remembers the circumstances in which he said it. All of us feel uncomfortable at someone snaking us -- I guess in the presence -- trying to snake us in the presence of our fiancee, and that made him feel uncomfortable, and John talked about that."

Um, not sure what to say.  I don't know what's weirder: That it happened -- or that Elizabeth Edwards told this story to a reporter ...

Okay.  Here's the Politico's explanation ...

UPDATE: A reader adds, "'To snake' is an old southern slang term for 'to steal' or 'to sneak.'"